Lumber-patching machine



March 23 1926.

v J. BUFFELEN LUMBER PATCHING MACHINE Filed April l0, 19.24 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ON .r mw

gmcnfoz March 23 1926. 1,578,008

J. BUFFELEN LUMBER PATCHING MACHINE Filed April 10 `1924 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 Cinema Patented Mar. Z3, 1926.

UNITED- siA'iESf imanes JOHN BUFFELEN, or tracoma, WASHINGTON.

LUMBnR-PATCHING MACHINE.

Application filed April 10,1924. Serial No. 705,624.

To all whom t 'may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN BUFFnLnN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tacoma, inthe county of Pierce, State of Vashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lumber-Patching Machines, of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to machines for use in mills an-d especially in mills where finished lumber is turned out, such as sash and door factories, and has for its object to accomplish by machine the functions now performed by hand by several men. Further objects are to provide a machine through which the lumber passes in a continuous manner and which is operated uby one man; in which the patches are automatically driven tight home into the pockets in the wood; in which the pockets are automatically freed of saw-dust; in which the patches are automatically smoothed offafter they have been driven home; in which the hammer hits each patch 'several times as it vpasses thereunder; and in which'the lumber feed mechanism operates the hammer mechanisnn Further objects are to provide a cheap and efficient machine which is easy to operate, repair, and'care for and' which will save labor in performing its functions.

devices, mechanisms and arrangements ily lustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

and Fig. 4 isa rear elevation, on a larger scale of a portionyof said hammer mechanism to show the hammer operatingrmeans. Similar numerals of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Lumber intended for use in doors and windows often has small pitch pockets which.

must be removed in order that the pitch therefrom may not affect the varnish, stain Y n 126 so that the said drum or paint of the finished product. This is done by cutting out the pitch pocket by a suitable saw and gluing therein a patch in` I The usual Ymethod has been to clean out the saw-dust` place of the wood cut out.

by hand, place glue in the cut, insert a wedge-shaped wooden patch piece in the cut and drive it home with a hammer and then scrape or sand-paper the patch level jI attain these and other objects by thev with the top of the wood. `All this 'has been done by hand and takes each man a considerable time. In my machine the wood comes with the pitch pocket sawed out, as above,`th'en it passes'under a suction apparatus by which'the dust is sucked from the sawed-out cavity; then the wood passes the open space where the machine operator stands, who inserts therein a glue-covered patch of the proper size and length; then itv passesunder the hammer which presses the iV patch into the cut and engages it several times as itpasses thereunder; then it passes under the rapidly revolving sand drum which smoothsthe top of the patch pieceto the level of the wood.

Referring, now, to ythe drawings, the wooden pieces 1 pass along on top. of the smooth operating table 2, being 'driven' by means of ordinary feed rollers 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Each piece 1 is first engaged by the first roller 3 andthen passes under the suction noZZleS, which extracts the dust from the cuts 9 therein, then the roller 4 engages it and forces it past the operator who inserts the glue-covered patch wedge 10 into each cutas it comes opposite him, and then the hammer 11 presses them down into the cuts, then therollers 5 ,and (Spass it along to the .sand drum 12 which smooths the part of the wedges which are still above the surface ofr the wood 1, and' the broken or roughened edgesthereof, even with the surface of the wood.

The machine is drivenv by a power belt 13 on the main pulley 14 on the main shaft 15 extending-'f across the machine. A pulley 16 yon the shaft 15 drives thev sand drum 12 by means of a belt 17 and another pulley 18. ron said drum drives the suction fan19 by means of the belt 20. A thirdpulley 21 on the main'shaft lfdrives'the friction drum ,22 by means of the belt23.y A complementary friction wheel 24 is mounted on a movable frame 25 in such a position as to engage thedrum 22 or to be withdrawn therefrom, and said frame is pressed lby a spring y v .22 and wheel 24 are in frictional engagement and the wheel 24 is driven by the drum. A pedal 27 engages the frame 25 and is positioned in a convenient place for the operator so that ,-w-hen he presses it with his foot said frame 25 will be moved, against the action of said spring 26, to reduce or remove the friction between said drinn 22 and wheel 24 in order.

to slow down or stop the feed rollers. The feed roller 3 is driven by means of a sprocket chain 28 leading from the shaft of the wheel 24, and in turn each of the other feed rollers 4, 5, 6 and 7 are similarly driven by a series of horizontal sprocket chains'29. The hammer mechanism is driven by means of one of the sprocket chains 29 as its links pass thus causing the hammer to strike exactly in proportion to the feed of the wood; in practice, the hammer strikes eight blowsfor each foot of the wood and, as its striking surface is about six inches'long, along the axis of the machine, it is evident that every part of the wood is engaged four times thereby.

The suction apparatus comprises a rotary suction fan 19, driven at a high rate of speed by the above mentioned mechanism, and having a suction pipe 30 leading to the nozzle 3l which extends across the machine and is positioned closely above the wood piece l as it passes thereunder. TWhen a sawed-out cut 9 reaches the nozzle 3l the strong suction thereof causes a vigorous blast of air to sweep through said cut and to draw out all the chips and dust therefrom as long as saidcut is under the nozzle. This blast of air is iirst in the direction of travel of the woo-d piece l until the forward edge of the cut has passed from under the nozzle then, if the cut is long enough, the air enters from both ends and finally the blast is reversed thus causing any of the dust which might stick in the cut to be drawn first from one direction and then from the other, thus greatly increasing the effect of the suction thereon.

The cuts 9 are all of a certain set of standard lengths, according to the length of the pitch pocket, and the operator has, in suitable containers, a number of patchY wedges l0 of corresponding lengths. As soon as a cut 9 reaches the open space between the feed roller 4 and the hammer l1, he picks out the correct size wedge l0, dips it in glue, and inserts it in the cut. If he has not sufficient time to do so as the wood piece vl passes, he presses his foot on the pedal 27 to slow down the feed, or to stop it, until he has inserted it in place when he withdraws his foot from the pedal 27 and permits the piece l to proceed on its way and the wedge then passes to and under the hammer l1.

This hammer consists of a rectangular head 32 which extends across and above the table 2. Itis permitted a vertical movement only by means of a guide pin 33, extending upward therefrom, which moves vertically in the guide socket 34 extending downward from the bridge piece 35 above the table. This bridge piece 35 is firmly secured to the frame of the machine and is provided with two compression springs 36, between it andthe hammer head 32, whose lower ends press down on the top of the hammer head 32 while their upper ends are engaged by the adjustable heads 37 which are loosely mounted in sockets in the lower side of the bridge 35 and are pressed 'down by adjustable screws 38. Thus the head 32 is forced down on the wood piece l as it passes, and the pressure thereon is adjust-ed by the said screws.

The head 32 has two trunnions 39 at the center of its long sides, on the center line of the machine, and these trunnions fitin bearings near the centers of Vtwo lifting levers 40. These levers 40 are pivoted to the front of the machine as 4l and their rear ends are joined and carry the lifting cam piece 42 which extends downward therefrom. This cam piece -42 is wedge-shaped and has an inclined lower surface 43 which engages the rollers 44 of the sprocket chain 29 as they pass. Thus each link of the sprocket chain raises the cam 42 as it passes and raises the hammer head 32 through the levers 40 36. And, as each roller 44 passes from under the cam 42, the springs 36 force the hammer head 32 down on the, wood piece l, or, if a patch wedge 10 has reached the space directly under the hammer head, then itis forced down into the cut 9 in which it li as been inserted bythe operator.

Finally, the patch, which may still Yextend slightly' above the surface of the-piece l and whose edges may be slightly damaged or against the action of the springs frayed, reaches the sanding drum 12 which"V is adjusted to remove all of the patch 10 which extends above the said surface, Vand the work on filling said patch pocket is completed. f

It is evident that this machine may be op-v erated by a single man and that all he has to do is to select the proper'size of patch wedge, Idip it in glue, and insert it in the cut when it reaches hin and that therefore one man can, with my machine,` perform the functions and produce the quantity of iinished product which it would require V'several -men todo at the present time. It is also evident that this machine is capable of being changed in several details without departing from the spirit of the .invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim inO a continuously acting feed mechanism whereby the wood to be patched is passed through the machine; a continuously driven suction mechanism whereby the patch cuts are freed of saw-dust as they Vpass into the machine; a continuously reciprocating hammer adapted to force the patch pieces into the cuts; and a continuously rotating sanding drum whereby the surface of the Apatch piece is abraded down to the surface of the wood being patched.

2. A machine as setforth in claim l,

l. A machine for )atchinv' wood com QrisllO wherein the feeding mechanism operates the hammer whereby the hammer operates equally on all portions of the wood.

3. A machine as set forth in claim l, together with a foot-controlled friction element in said feed mechanism, whereby the speed of the feed may be adjusted by the pressure of the operators foot thereon.

a. A machine as set forth in claim l,

f wherein the speed of the feeding mechanism and of the reciprocating hammer is controlled by the operator, while the, suction and the sanding mechanism operate at a constant speed.

5. A machine as set forth in claim l, wherein the suction mechanism comprises an exhaust fan and ay nozzle operably connected thereto, Lsaid nozzle extending across the machine and in close proximity to the wood being patched whereby, when an open cut comes under the influence of said nozzle as it passes, the air is sucked therethrough first in one direction andthen in the opposite direction to clear the cut of saw-dust.

6. A machine for patching wood, having a @ether with means whereby as they pass, whereby each bar or raises theI hammer vhammer head and comprising two feed rollers, onel on each side of the hammer head, connected togetherby a sprocket chain, one of the rollers being actuated and in turn actuating the other through said chain; tog said chain periodically compresses the springs of the hammer head and alternately releases them as it operates the feed roller 7. A machine as set forth in claim 6,

lwherein the sprocket chain comprises a series of cross bar or rollers with connecting links, and the hammer head is pro-vided with a mechanism engaging said bars or rollers roller head as it passes; together with springs engaging the frame and said hammer head and pressing it down against the action of the bars or rollers thereon.

JOHN BUFFELEN. 

